While Intel previously announced the expanded Intel Core X-Series line-up including the Core i9 7960X and Core i9 7980XE processors, only today is the performance embargo expiring as these CPUs begin to ship to further battle AMD's Ryzen Threadripper line-up. Here is today's launch-day Linux benchmarks of the Core i9 7960X.

The Core i9 7980XE Extreme Edition CPU will be tested in its own article but long story short has 18 cores / 36 threads with a lower 2.6GHz base frequency but can still boost to 4.4GHz. This Core i9 Extreme Edition processor will come in at $1999 USD.

As a reminder, the current high-end X-Series CPU is the Core i9 7900X with a 3.3GHz base frequency, 4.5GHz burst frequency, and just 10 core / 20 threads at $999 USD. The AMD competition is the Threadripper 1950X at 16 cores / 32 threads, 3.4GHz base frequency, 4.0GHz turbo core frequency, 32MB L3 cache, and a 180 Watt TDP with a price tag of $999 USD.

My testing of the Core i9 7960X under Linux the past few days has been going well. The 7980XE tests will come shortly in its own article due to some oddities experienced during the testing process that appear to be software-related. The Core i9 7960X has been working out fine on Ubuntu 17.04 and 17.10 with recent kernel releases and basically has the same good level of support as the Core i9 7900X as the CPUs work with existing X299 motherboards.

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